Why I Began a Low Carb Diet
Have you ever tried a low carb diet?
Perhaps you’ve heard of the benefits of cutting back on simple carbs and sugar, but you’re not sure if it’s just another fad or if there is truth to the claims.
Today I would like to share my story about why I began a low-carb diet, and how it worked for me.
There are many different types of low-carb diets, ranging from more lenient low carb to the Ketogenic and carnivore diets.
I have chosen a stricter version – the Ketogenic diet because of the chronic health issues I faced. Many women do not find Keto helpful to them, because one diet doesn’t work for everyone.
However, I am convinced that there are forms of carbohydrates that are not good for anyone, and should be avoided at all cost.
Here is my story.
Why I Began a Low Carb Diet
In February of 2017, I began a strict low-carb diet, a journey that has changed my life.
Out of frustration with my health and weight, I once again embarked on yet another diet.
Little did I know that this diet would quickly turn into a new way of eating, it would lead me to research and study the science behind it, and I would spend hours listening to podcasts about it.
This is how and why I began the Ketogenic diet.
I am not a doctor; none of the information on any of these pages pertaining to a low-carb diet should be considered medical advice and should not replace the care of your personal physician. I am simply eager to share the information I have learned while on my own journey to health. Before you embark on this journey, please consult with your physician.
You’ve probably heard of the Ketogenic Diet – it was all the rage a decade ago.
The thing is, I’m not a bandwagon sort of gal. In fact, I tend to run from bandwagons and hype. When I started the Ketogenic Diet, I didn’t know it was a fad; I was just looking for something to help me.
And it did.
After my first son was born in 2010, I was the heaviest I’d ever been: clocking in at about 200 pounds.
Having discovered only a year earlier that I had adrenal fatigue, I was horribly fatigued, depressed, and disappointed in my weight gain.
Less than two years later, we welcomed our second son.
While I’d lost some weight in the first trimester and kept a very close watch on what I ate, I was still heavier than I wanted to be.
Though I tried many things to lose weight, nothing helped very much; after an initial loss, I’d gain back all I’d lost – and I was discouraged.
In 2015, I had my gall bladder removed. Prior to the operation, I was in horrible pain and was afraid to eat anything, because the pain that came with an attack was horrible.
But the pain didn’t stop even after the operation.
One night, after writhing on the couch in pain for about 9 hours, followed by a 4-day migraine, I was desperate enough to try anything!
By that time, I was back to over 180 lbs, having migraines for 4-5 days at a time every other week, battling skin eruptions…just to name a few of the many health issues I was facing at the time.
The next morning, while doing some housework, I put on my headphones, found a BBC documentary on LCHF (one of the few diets I hadn’t yet tried)….this is the one I listened to:
By the time the documentary was over, I was sitting at my computer feverishly doing research on how to get started.
By the end of the week, I’d begun the Ketogenic Diet, a more strict form of Low Carb, High Fat – a decision that completely changed how I look at food.
Up to that time, I’d tried a few low-carb diets, but I could never wrap my mind around eliminating sugar from my diet forever.
That, to me, seemed impossible.
But only a few weeks later, I realized that my stomach pains were gone, as well as my migraines. A couple of months later, my skin eruptions had disappeared, and my skin was like brand new.
Over time, I realized that I felt so much better!
My head was clearer, my emotions were more stable, and I began to tick off so many health issues that had reversed themselves that I decided I’d never look back.
I’ve never willingly stuck to any diet I’ve tried (and I’ve tried so many of them that I can’t even remember all the diets I’ve tried!).
Below is some information I’ve found, books I’ve read, and podcasts I’ve followed.
I would like to preface this list of resources by saying that many of the authors and speakers are not Christians, or are Christians with a more liberal worldview.
Many of them believe, and refer to, the theory of evolution.
As with much of the health information out there, it is necessary to spit out some bones. However, their belief in evolution in no way taints the positive results of this way of eating.
Why I Believe That Low-Carb Diets Are Healthy
Quite honestly, the standard dietary guidelines most doctors, dieticians, nutritionists, and health experts promote is what has led to most modern diseases.
Heavy on carbs and low in fat.
But that is not how our ancestors ate even 100 years ago; the standard diet was heavy in fat and low in carbs.
In fact, our grandmothers and great-grandmothers knew that to lose weight, one needed to cut back on bread and potatoes.
And many would argue that Jesus ate bread; he didn’t eat the kind of bread we eat today.
Grains in biblical times were not heavily modified and soaked in pesticides like they are today. They also were not heavily ground and processed to the point of having no nutritional value as they are today.
Even “whole-grain” foods are not truly whole grains.
While many on the Ketogenic diet eat loads of bacon and stevia-laced deserts, I tend to eat a cleaner diet with lots of salads and one-ingredient foods.
While you may not feel a Ketogenic diet is for you, I challenge you to limit your carbohydrate intake to complex carbs while eliminating sugar and grains.
There is nothing extreme about saying, “I’m sorry, I don’t eat chips and Oreos”.
There is no nutritional value in heavily processed, fake foods. They are filled with ingredients our bodies do not know how to digest. There is no way for our bodies to utilize these ingredients, and the consumption of them has led to every modern disease we see today.
Some of my favorite go-to resources
Why We Get Fat, by Gary Taubes
The Obesity Code, by Dr. Jason Fung
Lie My Doctor Told Me, by Dr. Ken Berry
Keto Clarity, Jimmy Moore, and Dr. Eric Westman
The Hunger Code, by Dr. Jason Fung
